Volcanic Families
by thewarlockandtheshadowhunter
Summary: The Dursleys are on holiday with Dudley's girlfriend and her family. However, luck is not on Dudley's side as he tries to get home, the way obstructed by volcanic ash. Set in 2010, during the Icelandic volcano eruption. Written for round 3 of the Quidditch Fanfiction League. DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.


**This was written for round 3 of The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. The prompt was natural disaster. **

* * *

No.

Dudley Dursley stared in horror at the large display screen above him.

No, no, no, no, _no!_

This was like his worst nightmare from the past two weeks coming to life. He was hot and sweaty and irritable and tired and now...the tanoy blared, sharing the bad news with the rest of the airport. "We are sorry to inform all passengers that, because of volcanic ash in the air, no flights will be leaving for the forseeable future. We are sorry for any problems this may cause you."

Dudley wanted to scream, throw up a storm that even his 11 year old self would be impressed by. Throwing a tantrum however, would only make his situation worse. So instead, he picked up his bag and went to go find his girlfriend and their families.

The 'get to know each other' holiday had failed miserably. Not because their parents were as clueless about each other as they had been before - Dudley had learned a lot of things that he wished he hadn't - but because rather than getting to know and _liking _each other, they had gone in very much the opposite direction. And now they wouldn't shut up, constantly bickering and arguing about the stupidest things. That would be bad enough under normal circumstances, but in the sweltering heat, with sweat making his clothes stick to him in the most uncomfortable of ways...it made everything so much worse.

"Let's go to Spain, it'll be fun." He muttered as he pushed through the crowds looking for his girlfriend (hopefully their families would be somewhere else, leaving them alone, while they argued). "That's the last time I pay attention to my mother's suggestions."

It was then that he spotted them, their parents arguing (big suprise) and his Lisa looking like she'd rather get swallowed up by the ground than stand next to them. Dudley made his way over, ignoring the squabbling older generation and speaking directly to her. "All the flights are cancelled." He confirmed, knowing it was unecessary because of the tanoy announcement, but saying it anyway.

She sighed, the obvious hope she'd been had dying. "You know I could easily get us out of here." She said softly, "We don't have to take out parents with us - we could just leave them here." She added with a mischevious grin.

The idea made him smile, but he shook his head. Even after everything his cousin had done for them, his parents still weren't accepting of all things magic, which was why they had decided not to tell his parents that Lisa was a witch, for now. Her parents were 'normal' or muggle, as magical people called them, so there wasn't a chance of them confusing the magical and muggle world - the only thing they had to do was to not say a word about their magical daughter, which to their credit they had done so far. "If only we could." He sighed. "What're they even arguing about now?"

"The announcement." She answered with a light shrug. "Your parents think it's right, mine seem to think that our flight will miraculously be the only one that will be able to leave and we'll get home when we are supposed to." She sighed.

He quietly groaned, "C'mon. there's probably something on the news about the volcano." He gently took her hand and they walked away from their parents, who barely noticed them go.

It didn't take them long to find the large group of people who had congregated around the large over-head TV, expressions ranging from annoyance and irritation to worry and anxiety. They stood at the back, watching the news report.

"Due to the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull - a mouthful, I know - all flights will remain grounded until further notice, leaving holiday goers stranded at home and away. In other news..." The news reporter continued cheerily, talking about the latest celebrity scandal which Dudley tuned out. He really hoped that the ash cleared up soon - he didn't know how much longer he could handle the bickering couples.

"My previous offer is still on the table." Lisa piped up beside him. "They probably wouldn't even realise that we had left."

Dudley laughed, turning to his girlfriend. "I don't think know is the best time to let my parents know that you are a witch." He said softly, so that only she could hear him. "Even if your offer is quite tempting." He added, gently brushing some hair away from her face that had escaped from her ponytail. He had no idea how she managed to look so good in this heat - at most times he was too hot to function, but she always seemed as bubbly and energetic as ever. 'Probably magic' He thought, knowing that if he could use magic then he would definitely be using it.

"Spoil sport." She teased, leaning up to softly kiss him. He gently kissed her back, ignoring how hot and sweaty he was in favour of wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. He loved her kisses and her smile and the way she blushed and bit her lip when she was nervous...he was completely in love with her.

He'd wanted to tell her. Once his parents and her parents had met and hit it off, he was going to take her out to dinner and tell her how much he loved her, since neither of them had said the 'L word' yet. Yet, since their parents constantly argued, they were too scared to leave from for long in case another - more serious - fight broke out. So they had never gone out for dinner, just the two of them, and Dudley hadn't told her a thing.

He pulled away from Lisa as he heard his mum calling for him, turning to see Petunia Dursley pushing through the crowds towards them, the other three adults following behind them.

"Dudders-" He cringed at the nickname, hearing Lisa snigger beside him. "What's happening with our flight?"

He sighed, "Mum, they're all cancelled."

Petunia threw a victorious glance over her shoulder at Lisa's parents before turning back to the young couple. "And do you know when we will be flying again?"

"Uh...no." He shook his head. "We can go find out though." He took the first chance he had at escaping their parents again, and gently held Lisa's hand, leading her towards an information desk that - surprisingly - didn't have a line.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The receptionist asked, sounding way too chipper, as they approached.

"Hi, we were wondering when flights will start up again?" Dudley asked, hoping she'd say sometime soon.

"Sorry, I'm afraid there is no definite time - we'll just have to wait until the ash leaves the air." She answered, "Although, the latest estimate I've had is two-three weeks."

"Right, thanks." Dudley nodded and they turned away from the desk, looking at their squabbling parents.

"We can do another couple of weeks, right? I mean, we've made it this far..." Lisa said, although her voice betrayed how doubtful she was.

"Yeah. We'll be fine." Dudley nodded, although he too highly doubted that they'd make it through another few weeks without a proper fight breaking out. Lisa's offer, of leaving their parents behind as they went home, was starting to sound a lot better than it had ten minutes ago.


End file.
